


Rise of the Pheonix

by SimplyEssa (orphan_account)



Series: Descent Into Madness [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe — Modern Setting, Alternate Universe — Superheroes/Supervillains, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Violence, Crying, Ezor’s a bitch (Voltron), Fluff, Greek Fire, Hints of Dark Lance (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), M/M, Mild Blood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please read Author’s Notes, Protective Lance (Voltron), Punny use of Names, Right Place Wrong Time, Violence, Whump, Whump In General, dont ping me on the flaws ove been writing theis in class, exhausted boys, fast burn, im gonna make that a tag, kind of, lots of fluff, marriage proposals, theres a brief description of how their powers work in notes, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 23:03:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20804444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: All he wanted was a calm, peaceful roadtrip to his family cottage in Cuba with the love of his life. Maybe it was a lot to ask for, but there are definitely people who have asked for a lot more!But no-o, the universe decided to fuck him over. Him and his fantastic, crime fighting boyfriend. Them, citizens who are actually heroes, not the people committing murders or any crimes!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> came up w this in a whim and it flew out of control  
. hope you enjoy!
> 
> (minor spoilers, but u might need this to understand a little better)
> 
> so  
keith? hes kinda like frozone except he can turn water to ice too (if?? frozone couldnt . i dont remember). if ehs around fire, his energy drains a lot faster than it would if he were using his ice (extended use will drain him) and hes always cold. its hard for him to focus w too much heat
> 
> lance? always warm. he has greek fire and regular fire, except its not v regulr. it doesnt follow the rules of fire; if it collides w water, it turns the water into steam AND distinguishes thats all you need, the rest is big spoilers 
> 
> too much draining = unconscious
> 
> ezor and zethrid? ezor can control water and turn invisible (like the show) and deadass zethrid just has super strength and apeed, like captain america in a sense.
> 
> ok. thats all you need to know . enjoy!

What are the taxes for?

He pays them every day, just like most American citizens do, but there are still fucking potholes that are never filled. Every year he comes here, they never are!

So what are they for, if they aren’t filling the potholes?

All he wanted was a calm, peaceful roadtrip to his family cottage in Cuba with the love of his life. Maybe it was a lot to ask for, but there are definitely people who have asked for a lot more!

But _no_-o, the universe decided to fuck him over. Him and his fantastic, crime fighting boyfriend. Them, citizens who are actually _heroes_, not the people committing murders or any crimes!

And maybe he was exaggerating a little, but he’s _pissed off_!

They’re not like other citizens, so why are they be treated like so by the Universe? If anything, they’re better than the regular day-to-day citizen.

They’re both doing their damned best to keep the world safe, and yet, here they are, stranded on the side of the road at nine at night, ultimately fucked over until midnight!

And even though they’re both good people, people who pay their damn taxes, those potholes still aren’t filled! Since those potholes weren’t filled, they’re stranded on a back road for three damn hours while they wait for a replacement tire!

“Lance.”

He huffs out an angry breath, moving towards the cliff that overlooks the glittering ocean. It’s pretty, especially with the moonlight reflecting in the water, but it doesn’t help to quell his anger in the slightest, like it usually would.

“Lance.”

He thinks, maybe, he’d be a little more okay with this broken tire if he didn’t have such a strict plan to follow for the week. Maybe if it hadn't have woken up Keith up from his well deserved nap. Maybe if he had more vacation time, or maybe, even, if he didn’t have a ring crammed into his jeans!

“Lance, calm down.”

That’s what ticks him off; what makes him really snap. He bats away Keith’s outstretched hand and turns to him, a withering glare on his face. He raises his hands into the air out of both defeat and annoyance.

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? After everything we’ve been through, you expect me to be okay with this? Our car breaking down because of some fucking pothole?”

“It’s not that bad, Lance. It’s still only nine, and we’ve got two and a half hours left of the three—“

Lance lets out a sharp, bitter laugh, letting his arms drop back to his sides. His glare grows a little more narrow and the anger in his stomach burns a little more. The air around him feels hotter, and Keith… he looks like he’s sweating.

“Three hours is too long, Keith! This is three hours wasted on our only vacation until we retire or die!”

“You seriously think I don’t realize that?” Keith asks, voice dangerously low; the voice he tends to reserve for the people threatening the city. The one he uses when he’s in costume; when he’s Red. “I get why you’re mad, Lance, but it’s not that big of a deal. We aren’t stranded here forever. Once the tire is back, we can get back to driving.”

“But—“

“No,” Keith snaps, using that voice again. Lance feels a shiver run down his spine. “I don’t care about your strict plan. We were going to ditch it anyways. You know that.”

Lance feels his glare drop and feels his cheeks flush with shame. The rage is replaced with a slight annoyance and a whole lot of shame.

Keith is right.

He sighs, relenting with a nod. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, ignoring the cold feeling of a metal circle against his fingers.

The air feels a lot colder, now.

His hands, though, are removed just seconds later, held loosely in Keith’s own.

“I get it, Lance, I really do. I’m mad too, but you have to accept it. Sometimes our plans will be fucked up; especially with the jobs we have,” he offers a smile, and Lance finds himself smiling back. “Yeah, it’ll suck, but you have to get used to it. Our lives… even if we’re on vacation, it isn’t— they aren’t going to suddenly stop being crazy.”

Lance sighs again, frowning. He opts to squeeze Keith’s cold hands.

“I… I know. I’m sorry for blowing up like that,” he says, softly, squeezing Keith’s hands again. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“I know,” Keith whispers in return, offering an even wider smile, before using the grip he has on Lance’s hands to pull him forwards. He goes easily, if stumbling, watching with a fond smile as Keith proceeds to use his grip to drag Lance’s arm across his shoulders.

They stay like that for a few, peaceful moments. His arm stretched around Keith’s shoulders, Keith’s arm fit snugly around his waist as a cold breeze blows past them. The waves lap gently at the shore.

It’s the perfect moment to propose.

His heart jackhammers wildly at the thought.

It would be so easy.

So, with a beyond nervous feeling in his gut and heart rate beating as fast as Pidge can run, he pulls away from Keith.

He feels Keith’s curious gaze on him as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the silver band with the small, purple gemstone on the top, holding it tightly in his fist. With his other hand, he takes Keith’s hand in his own.

As much as he wants to be cliché, to make Keith cry, he knows how much Keith hates practically every cliché.

“Lance, what—“

“Keith,” he says, slowly, forcing Keith’s fingers to stay outstretched as he kisses the back of his hand. Keith’s hand goes easily, staying open as Lance smiles.

He holds the ring up to Keith’s eye level.

He watches as a look of shock and a heavy blush overcomes Keith’s face, accompanied by parted lips in the shape of an ‘o’.

“Keith,” he lowers the ring to the hand he’s holding, resting it against the tip of his ring finger. He looks at Keith, smiling hesitantly. “Be mine. Forever, Keith.”

A few moments pass.

A few more pass.

Keith has been staring at him for too long to be normal. It has to be too long, right? He swallows nervously, smile fading a little bit, but doesn’t move the ring from where it’s resting against the tip of his finger. He’s not taking back his proposal. Even if Keith says no— which won’t happen, most likely— he’d never take back his proposal. He loves Keith with all of his heart?

“And—“ He watches his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows, grinning a little less. And isn’t a good sign. Keith clears his throat before starting again. “And here I thought you were gonna— gonna get down on one knee,” Keith breathes out, smiling widely. He sees tears glistening in Keith’s eyes and it kick starts his own tears as he lets out a watery laugh.

“I still can, you know,” he giggles in reply, smiling just as widely. “Do you want me to?”

He waits with a grin as Keith shakes his head, wiggling his fingers impatiently. “No, this is— it’s perfect. Put it on, already.”

“Impatient little ass.”

Slowly, he slides the ring onto Keith’s finger with a laugh.

He watches as a tear slides down his cheek, followed by another, and another, until Keitj’s sleeves are too damp to properly dry them all. He laughs again, cupping Keith’s cheek with his free hand and swiping his thumb beneath his eye, wiping some away. Keith laughs with him.

He lifts the hand he’s holding, pressing it to his lips and pecking it softly. He does the same to each finger, until he turns his hand over and kisses his palm. Slowly, he lets go of his hand and cups Keith’s face with both hands. He leans forwards, and—

The ground shakes beneath them, nearly separating them. A piercing ‘boom’ echoes nearby, and Lance has just enough time to see a huge tidal wave rising from the ocean that was calm, just seconds ago. He drags Keith into him before turning around and pressing him against the car, shielding him, seconds before he hears the roar of the huge wave about to descend upon them.

Then, almost like a miracle, an icy chill surrounds them, and no water is crashing down on them. He feels Keith shove at him gently, obviously trying to get away from his body heat to _focus_, and that’s when it really clicks that Keith can protect them with the water that’s trying to kill them. He’s freezing it before it can touch them or their car.

He’s stupid to be using that much energy, but he loves him anyways. He backs away, but stays close. He doesn’t want to lose sight of his fiancé.

And, despite their current situation, he feels like squealing. He’s going to get married to _Keith_, the love of his life!

Finally, after what feels like hours later, the crashing of waves outside their little bubble of ice finally subsides to soft trickling. It’s then when Keith’s eyes roll into the back of his head and his knees buckle, and it takes everything Lance has to leap forwards in time to keep him from slamming against the rough pavement.

As he eases Keith more comfortably into his arms, three things happen at once.

The ice crumbles around them, forcing Lance to raise his hand and hold a fire above them, melting any ice to stop them from being impaled, and someone laughs in the distance.

Someone he’s _very_ familiar with.

Someone he really, _really_ hates.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, sorry about the italics :(

“Well,” Chameleon says, voice pitched high and annoying and god, Lance hates her. He can’t see her, but that doesn’t stop him from conjuring a ball of fire in his hand and flinging it in the direction he heard her voice come from.

There’s a sharp yelp in that direction and he grins.

“I was going to say ‘what a pleasant surprise,’ and, y’know, be nice, for once,” She starts, obviously a little more than just annoyed, “But fine! This is a mean surprise, now, douche ball!”

He doesn’t have the time to be insulted at the weird, mean nickname before Keith, still pressed close to his chest, throws out his arms. Small, sharp icicles burst from his fingertips in several directions in front of them.

Another sharp cry rings out from somewhere to the left. It leaves him enough time to look down at Keith, gaze finding Keith’s own glazed over one. He’s trembling, barely holding his own weight, but he’s alive and conscious. He couldn’t ask for more.

“Keith,” he says, softly, shifting him from his chest to lean against his side. He holds him with one arm, and raises his other hand threateningly, flames licking up his wrist to his fingers. “Let me handle this, okay?”

“Like hell I will,” Keith growls in return, prying Lance’s limbs away from him with a force he didn’t know Keith had at the moment.

After casting a glance around to make sure they aren’t going to be ambushed any time soon— which, essentially, is useless, considering she’s invisible— he keeps his hands hovering around Keith’s sides as he stumbles to his feet, trying to keep himself upright.

“Keith—“

“Cute,” Chameleon teases, voice pitched in a sing-song manner, and Lance scowls. He takes several reluctant steps away from Keith before igniting both of his hands into flames.

As much as his hands itch to cover his face with a mask, or, anything, really, he doesn’t have the time, and she’s already seen their faces, so he feels like there isn’t a point, anymore.

He feels a little better with that fact, knowing his friends and most of his family can protect themselves against someone like her.

“I am sorry, to be honest, interrupting your cute proposal like that,” she laughs again, and Lance watches with a slight smirk as frost travels across the ground. If she decides to stay invisible, it’s likely they’ll see her footsteps, “but you didn’t even get down on one knee, so I don’t think it counts. Do you wanna try aga—“

Icicles shoot out from Keith’s fingers again, shooting in random directions.

She breaks off into a high pitched yelp, but it doesn’t look like the icicles sunk into any bodies.

“Would you stop that? It’s getting annoying.”

“Fuck you,” Keith spits in response. Lance smirks a little when he sees ice growing on his fingers once more. “If you leave us alone now, we might consider letting you leave without an orange jumpsuit. If not, you’re going to jail.”

“We might consider letting you leave,” she mocks, voice pitched way too low to be anywhere close to Keith’s voice. She burst out in laughter. “My, my, Red. And you claim to be a hero? Sounds pretty villain-y to me. What do you think, Z?”

He shares a brief look of panic with Keith before there’s a bone rattling roar and the ground trembles so hard he almost falls over.

And just like Keith, he turns seconds too late to see the mammoth they call Brute— for good reason— running at them. She throws her full body weight against Keith, if the way she tackles him into the ground a few feet away have anything to say about it.

As fire laces through his body, readying himself to hit her with the biggest fireball he’s ever made, he hears the tell-tale swishing of moving water. It sounds closer than the ocean, which means…

He turns around just in time for the fireball to be thrown into a huge wave of water and making it dissipate into steam. God, this is the reason he loves his fire. It doesn’t work like regular fire, for some reason. If it comes into contact with water, both elements disappear.

His scowl grows deeper while Chameleon, now visible, smirks in return.

“Aw, Blue,” she says, voice in that teasing tone again, “Don’t look so down. I’ll only kill you if you keep getting in the way. After all, I only want ol’ Red over there.”

She shoots another wave of water at him, and in his shock, he doesn’t react quickly enough to stop the wave from hitting him, quickly and effectively knocking him onto his ass and drenching him in cold water.

He grunts in annoyance, heating up his body enough to dry the water and warm him up. He can see embers falling near his fingers and he glares at her.

“What the fuck do you want with him?” he demands, stalking forwards. Fire licks up his arms in what he hopes is a threatening manner.

“Oh, you know,” she skips around, sending hardened droplets of water towards him with an evil grin. He has to use his fire to turn them into steam before they can hit him. “The usual. Torture, maybe. Probably experiments, too. Not super sure yet, but don’t worry, Blue. We don’t need you. We only need an ice user, now, since already have the other elements. It’s too bad, really, that ol’ Red is the only ice user we know of. I like playing with you two, but, oh well. Now, if you could kindly step out of the way…”

Lance lets out a noise akin to a growl and. with green fire burning his hands, he lunges at her.

Maybe, just maybe, greek fire isn’t the best option to use against someone who won’t be able to put it out when he’s a hero, but…

While Chameleon does try to block it with a splash of water, it’s useless. This is greek fire, after all. Unless he decides he doesn’t want to end her life, that fire won’t go out until he says.

He’ll put it out when he knows Keith won’t be in danger of torture or snything worse; when he knows Keith will stay safe.

He smirks as the flame connects with the exposed part of her arm. At first, all she does is make a face, shoving him away with a strong blast of water, but as he’s knocked several feet away, she hears her make a confused, pained noise.

The rocky road beneath him isn’t the most preferable place to land, but he’ll take what he can get. At least she didn’t throw him into the ocean. He takes several moments to sit up, trying to catch his breath as his back aches from the fall, palms stinging from scratching against rocks.

Two people scream.

The one he doesn’t recognize very well; that must be Ezor. The other one, for certain, is Keith. He’d recognize that voice anywhere.

It has him bolting upright in seconds, painstakingly getting to his feet despite the exhaustion that rolls through him in waves. Once he’s standing— albeit a little shakily— he summons orbs of fire into his hands.

What he sees definitely isn’t something he expected, and will require more energy than he currently has.

Keith is barely conscious, eyelids drooping, slumped against a nearby tree with what appears to be a lamp post wrapped around him, pinning him to the tree. From what he can see in the dim moonlight, his only injury seems to be a dark bruise on his cheek, accompanied by a nosebleed.

With the fire in his palms slowly beginning to dim, he takes off in a run towards him. They’re going to need a lot of cold water, later, if they survive this.

And promptly freezes in his tracks when he sees someone else— Brute, he thinks— roars again.  
When he turns, he sees her running at Keith, too, a scratch across the length of her face, running from her forehead, cutting across her eye, and to her chin.

He feels a beam of pride towards Keith.

Unfortunately, she much faster than him, probably much angrier, and much closer than he is.

It doesn’t stop him from running as fast as he can; it doesn’t stop him from hurling as many balls of fire at her as he can.

Fire, apparently, isn’t enough to deter her, and as a consequence, she reaches Keith’s prone figure first.

Due to how close she is to Keith, he can’t keep lodging fireballs at her unless he wants to risk hurting Keith in the process.

“Come any closer,” she snaps, grabbing the lamppost pinning Keith to the tree and wrenching it away with surprising ease. She chucks it somewhere behind her before looking back to him, taking Keith into her arms. “And I’ll snap his neck right now.”

He feels the blood drain from his face as he sees Keith struggle in vain against the hold she has on his throat and arms. He stills, the scowl still sitting heavily on his face as she manhandles Keith towards the cliff’s edge with ease.

When he’s just beginning to wonder why Keith hasn’t started fighting back or blasted her with ice, he sees a glint shone from one of the fists Keith is making. He meets Keith’s eye and he nods, just the slightest bit. Lance nods back.

“If you douse the flames of the that fucking fire,” Brute starts, holding Keith to her chest in what seems to be a painful grip, if Keith’s grimace is any indication, “I won’t throw Red off this cliff.”

Lance stares at her, lip caught between his teeth and glaring heavily. He knows for a fact that no matter what he does, she’s going to hurt Keith if he can’t get out in time.

Whatever Keith is planning, he hopes he does it soon.

Keith meets his eye again, this time looking a little desperate, and Lance gets the hint. Hopefully, at least.

“How did you find us?” he asks, hoping to stall her log enough for Keith to do whatever he’s going to do.

“Doesn’t matter,” she snaps in response, tightening her grip on Keith. Lance can see him moving his arm from the corner of eyes and he hides his grin. “Make the fire go out. Now, or—“

“Fuck you,” Keith snaps, scowling, and Brutes face grows in anger as his arm moves and he hears the icicle shatter against her stomach before she smirks. Keith’s face drops in both fear and shock.

“That,” Brute snaps, tightening her grip and dragging him towards the edge of the cliff, a smirk on her face, “was stupid.”

Despite being on fire, he hears Chameleon laugh.

As Brute stops a few inches before the edge, his panic blooms with a ferocity as he takes a running step towards them.

“Keith—“ he gasps out, the anger and panic mixing in his stomach. He smells smoke. “Brute, don’t—“

Oh, but she does.

She smirks wider at him before pushing Keith towards the edge, and all but throwing him off before he can think to fight back.

When he passes by in a blur, he feels arms wrap around his middle. He screams, anger burning through him, and though he thinks it’s loud, it all sounds a little muffled; like he’s underwater. Moments after he’s grabbed, he hears a sharp cry and he’s dropped. He thinks he sees a green flame where Brute should’ve been.

He doesn’t hesitate to leap off the edge of the cliff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh no,, a cliffhanger,,, :)

**Author's Note:**

> there will be three chapters!! and dont worry, i have it all written out, i just need to type them. all the angst i promised? chapter 2 and some of 3, i promise. all will be explained in due time
> 
> also, google docs is a bitch w ao3. i think ive added all of the previous italics but ao3 syeeted then, so. >:(
> 
> i hope you enjoyed!! see yall in the next one


End file.
